The Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act is a 2004

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

aimed at protecting the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

region of northwest New Jersey by regulating development within the region under the supervision of the

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staff o ...

. The Highland region covers , nearly one-ninth of the state, and is home to 880,000 residents.About the Council
accessed January 15, 2007 The area is primarily in

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

, Hunterdon,

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

, and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

counties. The act is intended to preserve both large volumes of New Jersey's

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

sources for 5.4 million residents and the

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

in the area, in the face of increasing development in the exurbs of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The act was signed into law on August 10, 2004, by

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

James McGreevey James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 following the revelation of his extramarital affair w ...

. The provisions of the Act are monitored and controlled by the

Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council The New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council (or Highlands Council for short) was created by the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act in 2004 for the purpose of preserving the quality and quantity of the water resources of t ...

. The Council has 15 members, with a minimum of eight officials named from the Highlands Region, at least five of whom are municipal officials and three of whom must be county officials. Legal challenges to the Highlands Act have been filed, including at least one in federal court in Trenton. In that case, the Phillipsburg Alliance Church of Phillipsburg,

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

, sued the Commissioner of the

seeking to enjoin her and NJDEP from denying the church an exemption under the Highlands Act which would permit it to build its proposed new church sanctuary on a parcel in neighboring Lopatcong, New Jersey. The property lies on the boundary of the Highland's Act's preservation zone, on the boundary of the planning zone.

Municipalities

The following municipalities are in the region regulated by the act:

References

{{reflist

External links

Highlands Water Protection and Planning ActNew Jersey Highlands CouncilText of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act: Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly, No. 2635New Jersey Highlands Planning and Preservation Boundaries (map, PDF)New Jersey Highlands Coalition
Bergen County, New Jersey Hunterdon County, New Jersey Morris County, New Jersey Passaic County, New Jersey Somerset County, New Jersey Sussex County, New Jersey Warren County, New Jersey New Jersey statutes 2004 in the environment 2004 in American law 2004 in New Jersey United States state environmental legislation